A Soviet Deserter Tells Why

WE met Anatoly Zakharov in a partially destroyed house not far from the Pakistani border. Zakharov, who had been a soldier in the Soviet occupational forces in Afghanistan, is now a prisoner of the Afghan patriots. 1 could not help thinking, as I approached the house in the middle of the night, that I, a former sergeant in the Red Army, could have found myself in his place.

Zakharov, a tall, husky 19-year-old, met us dressed in traditional Afghan robes, hands folded on his stomach in the typical Moslem fashion. He looked solemn, calm, somewhat sad. Our videoequipment operator was surprised both at the strangeness of Zakharov’s appearance and because he looked healthy and well fed. Our conversation began at once, and we spoke freely, as if he were a free man, not a prisoner.

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V. Rybakov

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WE met Anatoly Zakharov in a partially destroyed house not far from the Pakistani border. Zakharov, who had been a soldier in the Soviet occupational forces in Afghanistan, is now a prisoner of the Afghan patriots. 1 could not help thinking, as I approached the house in the middle of the night, that I, a former sergeant in the Red Army, could have found myself in his place.

Zakharov, a tall, husky 19-year-old, met us dressed in traditional Afghan robes, hands folded on his stomach in the typical Moslem fashion. He looked solemn, calm, somewhat sad. Our videoequipment operator was surprised both at the strangeness of Zakharov’s appearance and because he looked healthy and well fed. Our conversation began at once, and we spoke freely, as if he were a free man, not a prisoner.